Timing

Throughout this chapter you might notice slight differences between your interface and the images used to demonstrate the procedure. This is because the images are taken from Harmony Stage. Xsheet is a subset of Harmony Stage.

When you create hand-drawn animation traditionally or in a paperless environment, it is important to know how to set and modify the timing of your drawings.

In a traditional workflow, the person in charge of the digital exposure sheet reproduces the paper exposure sheet created by the animator. In a paperless workflow, the animator creates and manages his own exposure sheet directly in Harmony without the need for reproduction.

If you are more of a traditional animator, you are more likely to work with an exposure sheet. If you are a digital animator, you may prefer to work with a timeline to visualize your timing. Harmony offers both.

The Xsheet view displays the digital reproduction of a traditional paper exposure sheet used in hand-drawn animation. You can set the animation sequence's exposure and name the drawings.

In this topic, you will learn how to work on your drawing’s exposure and length. The exposure and animation paths for symbols are covered in separate chapters.

The exposure sheet is not mandatory for Cut-out animation. It can be useful for creating characters and parts, but is not really needed for animation and timing. If you plan to work with Cut-out animation, you can still gain useful tips by reviewing the section on exposure sheets.

The basic digital exposure sheet process is divided into the following steps: